Roee Kalinsky's RV-7A Project

2007.04.17: (0.0) This log entry covers the past few weeks, most of which has been research on the internet and in various stores.  While this is definitely a necessary and time-consuming part of the process, I won't log the hours here because I haven't been logging this type of time for any other task.  Still, I'll log the info I've learned.

My primary considerations in selecting the interior paint are as follows (not necessarily in that order):
1. It should be "invisible" in flight.  By that I mean that color/sheen shouldn't be distracting to the eye, and should not generate an excessive amount of glare.
2. Aesthetics.  Prefer clean and simple. Nothing fancy, but nothing horribly ugly either.
3. Availability & cost.
4. Ease of application.  The fewer steps the better.
5. Safety of application.  Something I can spray in my garage and not blow up the house, or give myself cancer.
6. Ability to hide dirt, and/or ease of cleaning.
7. Durability.  It shouldn't chip or scratch too easily.
8. Ease of touch-up.  No matter how durable, it will inevitably get scratches and chips, and will need to be touched up.

These primary considerations lead to the following conclusions:
1. Satin gray preferred.  Aesthetically neutral, and should not clash with gray seat belt harnesses I've already purchased.  Satin finish will reduce glare compared to glossy, but will be easier to clean than flat paint, which tends to have more surface texture.
2. Store-bought common brand rattle cans preferred over specialty aircraft or automotive paint.  Cheaper and easier to get, and much simpler to apply.  Might not be as pretty or durable, but probably more than good enough.

Now in searching for a specific brand and type of paint, I discovered that "satin gray" is actually not very common at all.  There are plenty of other satins (in ugly hues) and plenty of glossy grays.  But I've actually only found one satin gray.  Fortunately, everything about it so far is looking very good.  It is:

Krylon (a Sherwin-Williams brand) Fusion: 2439 "Satin Pewter Gray".  This paint boasts that it will readily bond to most plastics, but it is also recommended for metal and various other surfaces.  The color is a lighter gray than what I had initially envisioned, but seeing what it looked like on some test patches I sprayed, I was very pleased.  It is different enough from the color of the seat belt harnesses that it looks different but not clashing.  And as an added surprise bonus, it's a close enough match to the color of the powder coating Van's uses on steel parts (just a little darker/grayer, and obviously not as glossy) that I can leave the powder coat as is and it'll look just fine.  As for durability, we'll see in a few days.  I painted a couple of test patches: one on clean aluminum, and one over AKZO primer that's been cured probably over a year.  This paint specifies that it can be handled after an hour, but is fully cured ("fully chip resistant") after 7 days.  So I'll beat on it then.  Another cool thing about this product: It comes in the typical 12 oz. rattle cans, but it doesn't have the typical unidirectional spray can nozzle.  The nozzle on this can puts out a nice vertical fan spray pattern like a real spray gun.  And it can be adjusted to a horizontal fan by twisting the nozzle tip.  Pretty spiffy!  Krylon Fusion is available at Marshall's Industrial Hardware, but I believe I should be able to find it at many consumer retail stores too.

For the record, I also tried Rust-Oleum Gloss Protective Enamel (7786 Smoke Gray) from Home Depot.  A test patch (on clean aluminum) also came out very nice.  The color is a much darker gray, which has a nice but very different effect.  Anyway, the deal-breaker is the sheen.  It is soooo glossy, that in full sunlight it produces a blinding glare like a mirror.  That's what I suspected, and now I know for sure.

I also ordered a can of Tempo Aircraft Enamel (Medium Gray A1105) from Aircraft Spruce to try.  But instead they sent me a can of Plasti-Kote (a Valspar brand) Super Enamel (T-10 Machinery Gray) without asking.  I don't think that's a good substitution, so I'll probably return it (if $6.20 is worth the hassle and shipping cost).

2007.10.02: (0.0) After painting test patches on bare aluminum, AKZO primer, and the P60G2 used in the quick-build stuff, and then abusing them in various ways, I decided on the Krylon Fusion: 2439 "Satin Pewter Gray" (see previous entry).  I bought a 6-pack at Marshalls.

I decided that this would be a good time to paint the forward cockpit (forward of the center section bulkhead) before I start permanently mounting the gear mounts, etc.  I decided to first prime everything with AKZO (with the exception of the stainless steel firewall), and then spray the Krylon paint over all that except for the floor, which will be covered by a carpet.  Most of the work (hours upon hours) was in stripping the P60G2 and masking.  Doing the actual painting was anti-climactic, and the results were quite good.

2008.08.11: (0.0) Prepped and painted the rest visible non-removable surfaces of the cockpit, aft of the main bulkhead.  I did this now because some of the nooks and crannies will start becoming less accessible to paint as I install various things in the cockpit.  I know for certain that some areas of the cockpit will need to get touched up before all is said and done.  But some of that is unavoidable no matter what sequence I choose for construction and paint.  Such is life.

2008.12.18: (0.0) Note: A few days ago I did some paint touchups on the forward canopy frame in areas the will be inaccessible once it's complete.  Well, the touch up resulted in severe "lifting" or "wrinkling" problems.  I suspect the problem was that I didn't observe the manufacturer's specified recoat time: "recoat before 24 hours or after 7 days."  I did it after about 2 days.  So I'll remove the affected areas, and try again in a week.